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Scholz says EU, NATO member countries won’t send troops to Ukraine

The German chancellor noted that Western countries "have a willingness to spend European funds to buy [ammunition] outside of Europe to provide support for Ukraine"

BERLIN, February 27. /TASS/. NATO and EU member countries agree that they will not send their troops to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters on a visit to the city of Freiburg im Breisgau.

"Once again, in a good discussion, we discussed that what we agreed on from the beginning also applies to the future, namely that there would be no ground troops or soldiers in Ukraine sent there from European countries or NATO countries," he said, according to the NTV television channel.

He said it is "a very important step forward" to have this understanding among Western countries. He said the opinion in the West on this issue is "very unanimous." Scholz declined to take questions from reporters.

Scholz also said that Western countries "have a willingness to spend European funds to buy [ammunition] outside of Europe to provide support for Ukraine."

French President Emmanuel Macron earlier said at a news conference following a meeting of European leaders that there was no consensus about sending ground troops to Ukraine, but did not rule this out as an option for the future. He added that Western countries plan to do whatever is takes to prevent Russia from prevailing in the conflict.

The meeting at the Elysee Palace was held on February 26. It was attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and the prime ministers of about 20 other EU countries. The US was represented by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien, and the UK by Foreign Minister David Cameron.

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